01 CAC TTH5 12141 FULTON MU-111
Utopia/Dystopia: Political Fiction from Plato to the Present
This is a survey of political fiction that traces idealistic writing from the ancient stories of paradise in the Genesis and Plato’s Republic to the imaginary worlds of modern dystopian fiction. We will read great literary works such Thomas More’s Utopia and Gulliver’s Travels and also pieces of political theory and idealism, such as the Declaration of Independence and Marx and Engles’ Communist Manifesto. The course turns with the history of the genre from utopias to the “Dystopias,” or “Bad Places,” which emerged after the disillusionment of the World Wars and the emergence of twentieth-century totalitarianism. These nightmarish visions of the future, such as Zamyatin’s We, or Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale, and movies such as the Matrix, subvert the literary conventions of utopian writing, and serve as warnings about the future of civilization.
Requirements: Several quizzes and in-class writing assignments; two essays.
Texts: Available at Barnes and Noble at Rutgers, 100 Somerset St.